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Pregnancy Surrogate Refuses to Abort Baby

A pregnancy surrogate in Connecticut refused to terminate her surrogate pregnancy after tests confirmed that the baby would have “a cleft lip and palate, a cyst in the brain, and a complex heart abnormality.” The baby’s aspiring parents believed that the medical procedures necessary to manage the baby’s health problems would be too much for an infant and that it would be “more humane” to terminate the pregnancy. The parents previously had thee premature births, requiring two of their children to be hospitalized and suffer ongoing medical conditions. However, the pregnancy surrogate disagreed with the parents’ decision, believing that “all efforts should be made to ‘give the baby a chance.’” As the aspiring parents prepared to exercise their legal rights to custody under the laws of Connecticut, the pregnant surrogate travelled to Michigan where she would be recognized as the baby’s mother. Then, matters were further complicated when it came to light that the egg was from an anonymous egg donor. The baby was subsequently adopted by a couple in Michigan and the Connecticut couple will stay in touch with the baby’s adoptive family. Read more here.

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The pieces here represent the position and analysis of the individual authors and not those of the Hofstra Bioethics Center or The Gitenstein Institute for Health Law & Policy. Each author is responsible for the accuracy of the citations and substance of the text itself.